R 



rom the meteorological observations given in the Tables above, Page 

 25 to 248, I have deduced the results set forth in the following chapters. 

 These results comprise chiefly, the climatological elements and their diurnal 

 and annual periods for that part of the circumpolar arctic ocean in which the 

 Fram was drifting during the period October 1893 to August 1896. It is 

 generally understood, that the determination of the mean values of the different 

 climatological elements and their periods, requires a series of observations 

 made during many years, and this is particularly true for the regions belonging 

 to the cold zone. The observations made during the voyage of the Fram 

 only cover a space of time of not quite three years ; but they are well made, 

 with controlled instruments, many times each day, and what is of the 

 utmost importance, in regions where the surface of the earth during the whole 

 time was of a unique homogeneous nature, consisting of a level of frozen 

 water with an uninterrupted free horizon. The distance from continents or 

 islands was always considerable. The place of the Fram changed, it is 

 true, not inconsiderably, particularly in longitude; so that the observations 

 are far from being taken on the same spot, but the environs of the Fram 

 were always so similar, that the factors having influence upon the climate 

 may be regarded as a function mainly of the latitude and only slightly of 

 the longitude, at least in respect of the diurnal variations of the climatological 

 elements. 



The following Table shows for each month of the drift, the mean, the 

 highest, and the lowest latitude and likewise the mean, the greatest, and the 

 least longitude, taken from the positions of the Fram each noon (local time). 



